Teaching biology is interesting and challenging, at the same time, it is also a dilemma because n... more Teaching biology is interesting and challenging, at the same time, it is also a dilemma because new and new advances are being made in biological science: biodiversity is changing - new species are being discovered while others are threatened with extinction, and unprecedented genetically modified organisms are being created. Teachers find it difficult to keep up with all the latest developments, especially in cell and molecular biology (Tunnicliffe & Ueckert, 2007). Biology is a unique science that studies living things. The discipline of biology differs from other fields of science (e.g. physics and chemistry) in the breadth and complexity of its knowledge content and the interconnectedness of knowledge at many different levels (Wandersee et al., 2000). Regarding the use of different research methods, biology is also involved in exploring both the micro-world through microscopy, experimental work in the laboratory or in field studies of the macro-world.
Grāmata paredzēta studentiem, topošajiem skolotājiem. Piedāvātais materiāls potenciāli būs noderī... more Grāmata paredzēta studentiem, topošajiem skolotājiem. Piedāvātais materiāls potenciāli būs noderīgs ikvienā metodikas kursā pamatizglītības skolotāju programmās, lai mērķtiecīgi organizētu skolēnu radošuma un līdz ar to caurviju prasmju – jaunrades un uzņēmējspējas, kritiskās domāšanas un problēmu risināšanas, kā arī pašvadītas mācīšanās – attīstību dažādās izglītības jomās
The present research has been conducted during the implementation of interuniversity Master's... more The present research has been conducted during the implementation of interuniversity Master's programme "Educational treatment of diversity" carried out in four universities: National University of Distance Education (Spain), Karls-University Prague (Czech Republic), University of Latvia and Ludwigsburg University of Education (Germany) in 2008-2009. The research objectives are to analyze which opportunities using ICT improve the learners' generic competences and learning outcomes and how they change in the three dimension reality: study experience, self-feeling and social recognition (Reich, 2005). The sequential explorative qualitative and quantitative research design comprises the following stages: exploration of the context of ICT use, qualitative and quantitative data processing of e-platform data, data analysis and interpretation. The sample consisted of 21 students of the Master's programme studying at the University of Latvia. Qualitative data processin...
his White Paper on e-Learning for Lifelong Learning in Latvia is one among a number of white pape... more his White Paper on e-Learning for Lifelong Learning in Latvia is one among a number of white papers dealing with e-Learning and lifelong learning in specific countries in Asia and Europe. The production of these white papers is an Asian-European initiative, with offspring in the e-ASEM network ― the research network on the Development of ICT skills, e-Learning and the culture of e-Learning in Lifelong Learning ― under the ASEM Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning. The aim of the White Paper article is to explore the concept of e-learning and lifelong learning in the context of Latvia taking into account the relevant government policy, regulations and financing issues.
The life quality of society and the stability of national economy is largely connected with scien... more The life quality of society and the stability of national economy is largely connected with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The complex character of STEM education demands informed teaching/learning strategies in order to make the 21st century youth interested in learning. The aim of the research was to find out the views of prospective pre-school teachers on Grade 9 students’ STEM learning, thus addressing the topical principle of continuity in education. A survey of 261 prospective pre-school teachers of the University of Latvia was performed. The obtained results show that in general the prospective pre-school teachers have some notion about the level of teaching/learning requirements in Grade 9 of the basic school, the integration of STEM and teaching/learning strategies. They acknowledge cognitive interest, inquiry-based learning and the importance of STEM knowledge and skills in the national development as significant, but little value is given to the...
E-learning as a means to promote the changes in academic studies provides the opportunity to inte... more E-learning as a means to promote the changes in academic studies provides the opportunity to integrate non-formal and informal learning elements into formal education. Individualization, flexibility in time and e-environment can facilitate the development of students’ competences. The paper deals with the survey on students’ perception of e-learning in the context of social presence as a mediating factor to facilitate learning in present society. The research target group is 100 students (of age 19 – 54) of an evening school and four higher education institutions in Latvia. The questionnaire of the survey has been designed based on the defined criteria and indicators of the semi-structured literature survey, a grounded theory and identified concepts of a document analysis. Primary quantitative and qualitative data were obtained by the means of a questionnaire using closed-ended and open-ended questions. The data had been analysed by mathematical statistical data processing methods a...
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays becomes more and more... more STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays becomes more and more topical; however, there are still few students who choose to study these sciences therefore it is important to develop students’ interest in these subjects already at school. Meaningful use of technology in the teaching and learning process of STEM could be one of the ways how to attract students’ interest. The aim of the research was to identify the role of technologies in the teaching and learning process of STEM. One hundred and twenty-eight (128) STEM teachers and 257 students in general comprehensive schools of Latvia have been surveyed with the help of the QuestionPro e-platform. The obtained data showed that teachers and students had similar and different views on the use of technologies. Both teachers and students mainly use technologies reproductively as consumers of information not as productive developers of knowledge. There are problems with the specific STEM technology: the...
The sixth volume of the Qualitative Psychology Nexus comprises documents and contributions of the... more The sixth volume of the Qualitative Psychology Nexus comprises documents and contributions of the sixth international meeting on qualitative psychology, organized by EARLI SIG 17 "Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches to Learning and Instruction". The meeting was organised by the Centre for Qualitative Psychology and the University of Latvia to deepen our joint understanding of learning and instruction in the changing academic context. It took place in Riga (Latvia), October 20-22, 2006 as the SIG 17 meeting between the biennale EARLI conferences. There were 28 participants from 7 countries: Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Sweden and Latvia. The participants focused on discussing the contributions of qualitatively oriented psychologists in Europe and the changes that are taking place currently in the European academic world following the Bologna process. The presenters touched upon topical issues concerning changes in higher education following the decision...
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays is considered priorit... more STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays is considered priority. To implement it successfully, students must acquire not only STEM “hard” skills, but also “soft” skills, therefore the choice of teaching/learning methods is essential. Problem-based (PrBL) and projectbased learning (PjBL) aim both at the acquisition of science content using real life examples and the improvement of IT skills, critical thinking, decision-making, civil responsibility and cooperation skills. The aim of the research is to find out the use of PrBL and PjBL in the teaching/ learning of STEM in the context of national reform of Latvia. The design of mixed methods was used in the research. The correlative research was performed using QuestionPro e-platform and surveyed 128 STEM teachers and 257 secondary school students to collect quantitative data. As Latvia now is implementing the education reform, the case study for qualitative and quantitative analysis has been carried o...
Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays becomes more and more... more STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays becomes more and more topical; however, students’ performance in these subjects is rather low and only a small part of them decide to study these sciences therefore it is important to rouse students’ interest in these subjects already at school. It is important to acquire not only the knowledge of the subject but also the transversal skills, thus, the organization of the teaching/learning process becomes more significant. Schools of Latvia start implementing the teaching/learning content and approach that correspond to the new standards of basic and general secondary education, which incorporates four innovative aspects in the science domain: the promotion of the content acquisition through teachers’ reciprocal collaboration; the use of ICT (Information Communication Technologies) as a platform for engineering technological solutions; learning through doing and engagement in discussions and other activities ...
In the past decade, the many adults have undertaken the task of learning to use personal computer... more In the past decade, the many adults have undertaken the task of learning to use personal computers, employing individual learning styles, resulting in varying levels of success. There is main pedagogical topicality – how to organise and facilitate ICT learning for adults. Author’s research is related to assessment of the impact of humanistic approach from teaching to learning, the role of adult educator and student, readiness of adult student to self-directed learning and the learning environment on the acquisition of personal computer competency. During 1999–2005 research about implementation of humanistic principles in learning of ICT for adult students was carried out. In total 119 natural science teachers from the comprehensive schools of Latvia participated and 221 personnel of Lattelekom Ltd. The respondents completed a questionnaire that identified their computer skills, accessibility to the computers, appropriate instruction and learning methods, and attitude using the compu...
Teaching biology is interesting and challenging, at the same time, it is also a dilemma because n... more Teaching biology is interesting and challenging, at the same time, it is also a dilemma because new and new advances are being made in biological science: biodiversity is changing - new species are being discovered while others are threatened with extinction, and unprecedented genetically modified organisms are being created. Teachers find it difficult to keep up with all the latest developments, especially in cell and molecular biology (Tunnicliffe & Ueckert, 2007). Biology is a unique science that studies living things. The discipline of biology differs from other fields of science (e.g. physics and chemistry) in the breadth and complexity of its knowledge content and the interconnectedness of knowledge at many different levels (Wandersee et al., 2000). Regarding the use of different research methods, biology is also involved in exploring both the micro-world through microscopy, experimental work in the laboratory or in field studies of the macro-world.
Grāmata paredzēta studentiem, topošajiem skolotājiem. Piedāvātais materiāls potenciāli būs noderī... more Grāmata paredzēta studentiem, topošajiem skolotājiem. Piedāvātais materiāls potenciāli būs noderīgs ikvienā metodikas kursā pamatizglītības skolotāju programmās, lai mērķtiecīgi organizētu skolēnu radošuma un līdz ar to caurviju prasmju – jaunrades un uzņēmējspējas, kritiskās domāšanas un problēmu risināšanas, kā arī pašvadītas mācīšanās – attīstību dažādās izglītības jomās
The present research has been conducted during the implementation of interuniversity Master's... more The present research has been conducted during the implementation of interuniversity Master's programme "Educational treatment of diversity" carried out in four universities: National University of Distance Education (Spain), Karls-University Prague (Czech Republic), University of Latvia and Ludwigsburg University of Education (Germany) in 2008-2009. The research objectives are to analyze which opportunities using ICT improve the learners' generic competences and learning outcomes and how they change in the three dimension reality: study experience, self-feeling and social recognition (Reich, 2005). The sequential explorative qualitative and quantitative research design comprises the following stages: exploration of the context of ICT use, qualitative and quantitative data processing of e-platform data, data analysis and interpretation. The sample consisted of 21 students of the Master's programme studying at the University of Latvia. Qualitative data processin...
his White Paper on e-Learning for Lifelong Learning in Latvia is one among a number of white pape... more his White Paper on e-Learning for Lifelong Learning in Latvia is one among a number of white papers dealing with e-Learning and lifelong learning in specific countries in Asia and Europe. The production of these white papers is an Asian-European initiative, with offspring in the e-ASEM network ― the research network on the Development of ICT skills, e-Learning and the culture of e-Learning in Lifelong Learning ― under the ASEM Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning. The aim of the White Paper article is to explore the concept of e-learning and lifelong learning in the context of Latvia taking into account the relevant government policy, regulations and financing issues.
The life quality of society and the stability of national economy is largely connected with scien... more The life quality of society and the stability of national economy is largely connected with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The complex character of STEM education demands informed teaching/learning strategies in order to make the 21st century youth interested in learning. The aim of the research was to find out the views of prospective pre-school teachers on Grade 9 students’ STEM learning, thus addressing the topical principle of continuity in education. A survey of 261 prospective pre-school teachers of the University of Latvia was performed. The obtained results show that in general the prospective pre-school teachers have some notion about the level of teaching/learning requirements in Grade 9 of the basic school, the integration of STEM and teaching/learning strategies. They acknowledge cognitive interest, inquiry-based learning and the importance of STEM knowledge and skills in the national development as significant, but little value is given to the...
E-learning as a means to promote the changes in academic studies provides the opportunity to inte... more E-learning as a means to promote the changes in academic studies provides the opportunity to integrate non-formal and informal learning elements into formal education. Individualization, flexibility in time and e-environment can facilitate the development of students’ competences. The paper deals with the survey on students’ perception of e-learning in the context of social presence as a mediating factor to facilitate learning in present society. The research target group is 100 students (of age 19 – 54) of an evening school and four higher education institutions in Latvia. The questionnaire of the survey has been designed based on the defined criteria and indicators of the semi-structured literature survey, a grounded theory and identified concepts of a document analysis. Primary quantitative and qualitative data were obtained by the means of a questionnaire using closed-ended and open-ended questions. The data had been analysed by mathematical statistical data processing methods a...
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays becomes more and more... more STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays becomes more and more topical; however, there are still few students who choose to study these sciences therefore it is important to develop students’ interest in these subjects already at school. Meaningful use of technology in the teaching and learning process of STEM could be one of the ways how to attract students’ interest. The aim of the research was to identify the role of technologies in the teaching and learning process of STEM. One hundred and twenty-eight (128) STEM teachers and 257 students in general comprehensive schools of Latvia have been surveyed with the help of the QuestionPro e-platform. The obtained data showed that teachers and students had similar and different views on the use of technologies. Both teachers and students mainly use technologies reproductively as consumers of information not as productive developers of knowledge. There are problems with the specific STEM technology: the...
The sixth volume of the Qualitative Psychology Nexus comprises documents and contributions of the... more The sixth volume of the Qualitative Psychology Nexus comprises documents and contributions of the sixth international meeting on qualitative psychology, organized by EARLI SIG 17 "Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches to Learning and Instruction". The meeting was organised by the Centre for Qualitative Psychology and the University of Latvia to deepen our joint understanding of learning and instruction in the changing academic context. It took place in Riga (Latvia), October 20-22, 2006 as the SIG 17 meeting between the biennale EARLI conferences. There were 28 participants from 7 countries: Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Sweden and Latvia. The participants focused on discussing the contributions of qualitatively oriented psychologists in Europe and the changes that are taking place currently in the European academic world following the Bologna process. The presenters touched upon topical issues concerning changes in higher education following the decision...
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays is considered priorit... more STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays is considered priority. To implement it successfully, students must acquire not only STEM “hard” skills, but also “soft” skills, therefore the choice of teaching/learning methods is essential. Problem-based (PrBL) and projectbased learning (PjBL) aim both at the acquisition of science content using real life examples and the improvement of IT skills, critical thinking, decision-making, civil responsibility and cooperation skills. The aim of the research is to find out the use of PrBL and PjBL in the teaching/ learning of STEM in the context of national reform of Latvia. The design of mixed methods was used in the research. The correlative research was performed using QuestionPro e-platform and surveyed 128 STEM teachers and 257 secondary school students to collect quantitative data. As Latvia now is implementing the education reform, the case study for qualitative and quantitative analysis has been carried o...
Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2021
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays becomes more and more... more STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays becomes more and more topical; however, students’ performance in these subjects is rather low and only a small part of them decide to study these sciences therefore it is important to rouse students’ interest in these subjects already at school. It is important to acquire not only the knowledge of the subject but also the transversal skills, thus, the organization of the teaching/learning process becomes more significant. Schools of Latvia start implementing the teaching/learning content and approach that correspond to the new standards of basic and general secondary education, which incorporates four innovative aspects in the science domain: the promotion of the content acquisition through teachers’ reciprocal collaboration; the use of ICT (Information Communication Technologies) as a platform for engineering technological solutions; learning through doing and engagement in discussions and other activities ...
In the past decade, the many adults have undertaken the task of learning to use personal computer... more In the past decade, the many adults have undertaken the task of learning to use personal computers, employing individual learning styles, resulting in varying levels of success. There is main pedagogical topicality – how to organise and facilitate ICT learning for adults. Author’s research is related to assessment of the impact of humanistic approach from teaching to learning, the role of adult educator and student, readiness of adult student to self-directed learning and the learning environment on the acquisition of personal computer competency. During 1999–2005 research about implementation of humanistic principles in learning of ICT for adult students was carried out. In total 119 natural science teachers from the comprehensive schools of Latvia participated and 221 personnel of Lattelekom Ltd. The respondents completed a questionnaire that identified their computer skills, accessibility to the computers, appropriate instruction and learning methods, and attitude using the compu...
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